How often should you get a Brazilian wax? Experts break down the ideal wait time

You’ve finally made the switch from shaving to waxing for a longer-lasting result, and are wondering when it’s time to book your next appointment. The question every new waxer wants answered is, how often should you get a Brazilian wax to keep the skin smooth and hair free? 

The truth is, there's definitely a sweet spot when it comes to the time you should leave between waxes. You don’t want to go back too soon, but waiting too long carries its own problems. You might even be thinking about getting rid of any regrowth with a quick shave or even at-home laser hair removal—but are touch-ups really a good idea?

In order to answer all your questions, we tapped into the expertise of two professional estheticians to learn the dos and don’ts of keeping up Brazilian waxing. 

Meet the experts on Brazilian waxing

• Andrea Franco is a licensed esthetician at Honey Waxing Florida, who has explained why waiting the right amount of time between bikini waxes is so important. 
• Liz Lugo is a licensed esthetician and the founder of Nova Wax. In this guide, she's broken down how long to wait between bikini waxes, and why this timeframe is so important. 

How often should you get a Brazilian wax?

A Brazilian wax is one of the best options if you want to remove pubic hair without shaving, but to get the best results you have to be patient. Estheticians recommend waiting between 4 to 6 weeks after your first appointment before going back for another Brazilian wax session.

"Waxing every four to five weeks maintains a slow, regulated regrowth,” explains Liz Lugo, licensed esthetician and the creator of Nova Wax. “If you are consistent after six months to a year, you can wax every five to six weeks.” (We’ll get into why later on.)

The best timing will differ slightly based on each person’s hair type and regrowth rate. Factors like hormones and genetics can impact how quickly your hair grows back, for example. After a few sessions, you and your esthetician will get to know what waxing schedule works best for you, but four-to-six weeks is a good estimate.

Why should you wait at least a month between waxes?

This four-to-six-week timeline isn’t just a random number that ensures you get booked in once every month or so. It's actually intended to follow the hair’s growth cycle and strike at exactly the right moment.

If you're not clear on how long hair removal methods last, a wax is about somewhere in the middle compared to shaving and laser hair removal. The trick to getting a long-lasting Brazilian is to wax at just the right time to ensure that all the strands are completely removed at the root. Here’s why waiting at least four weeks works so well, per our experts.

1. You’ll wax at the right time in your hair’s growth cycle

As Lugo explains: “We have a total of three hair cycles. You want to target the right cycle in order to create slow, sparse, and fine-textured regrowth.” The three stages are as follows. 

• Anagen: The active growth phase
• Catagen: The transitional phase
• Telogen: The resting phase

During the anagen stage, new strands form in each hair follicle and start to lengthen. They’ll naturally stop at a certain point, which is why body hair doesn’t grow nearly as long as the hair on your head.

After the initial growth, during the short-lived catagen phase, the hair is cut off from its supply source and it stops growing. It then enters the telogen phase, where it sort of hangs around for a while and eventually falls out. The hairs that come out in your hairbrush in the morning, for example, are fresh out of the telogen phase. A new strand will start coming up behind that one and the process begins again.

When you get a Brazilian wax, you ideally want to target hairs that are still in the anagen or active growth phase. Your body hasn’t produced another new hair yet, so it’ll have to start all over again, meaning you won’t start seeing pesky stubble for a while.

Of course, some of these strands will be in one of the later stages. For any hair that’s removed during the telogen phase, a new strand will grow out of the same follicle faster. But if you’re consistent, eventually the majority of hairs will end up in the same cycle. As Lugo mentions, this is why you’ll be able to wait a little longer between waxes after keeping up with regular sessions for at least six months to a year. The same is true whether you opt for a bikini or Brazilian wax, so if you get less hair off, you're also advised to have the treatment at least every six weeks.

2. The hair grows long enough to avoid breakage

“After two and a half weeks, your hair will start showing, but it is not yet long enough to be waxed again," says Andrea Franco, licensed esthetician at Honey Waxing Florida. But as Lugo notes, you’ll want to wait until “the hair is about the length of a grain of rice," or at least one-quarter inch long, before getting another Brazilian wax. 

"Coming in too soon for a wax can cause hair breakage," Lugo continues. "When the hair is not long enough, the wax has a difficult time adhering to short hair and they will break, which means not only are those hairs not being removed from the root but you will see regrowth much much sooner—within one to three days."

This is similar to what happens when you shave; each strand of hair is cut off at the surface of the skin and grows back in just a few days, looking thicker and blunter. When strands break off during a Brazilian wax, this can also give you those less-than-ideal results, so it’s safest to wait until your waxing professional has enough hair to work with. 

3. You’ll encourage finer regrowth

“The more times you wax, the thinner your hair will grow back,” Franco says. A lot of women love Brazilian waxing because it leaves them with finer hairs instead of coarse or wiry strands—a clear benefit and a big reason why waxing is one of the best options if you're wondering how to remove pubic hair without shaving.

But why does this happen? Thinking back to the hair's growth cycles, when you do see regrowth after a Brazilian wax, the pieces that poke out are the tips of brand-new strands. They’re much softer and finer, and sometimes lighter in color than the middle or bottom of a strand of hair—which is why it's a good hair removal option for dark skin that also has thicker, coarser hair. This won’t happen immediately, but once you get into a waxing routine you’ll definitely notice a change.

After your first Brazilian wax, you’ll probably notice pesky hairs that you want to shave off —but whatever you do, don’t do this. Be patient and stick to a professional waxing routine (here's how to remove wax from skin and clothes, just in case) and soon enough, touch-ups won’t be necessary.

In the meantime, Lugo says: ”The best thing you can do while you wait for your next wax is to exfoliate regularly, never pick or extract ingrown hairs, and don't shave!”